


Don't Say It

by OmgPandi



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 21:12:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1048619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmgPandi/pseuds/OmgPandi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were just teenagers when Cheren met Hilbert.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Say It

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a prompt from the [Imagine your OTP...](http://imagineyourotp.tumblr.com/) blog at tumblr. KuroShipping and IsshuShipping. No real specific time period for this one, but it is an AU.

They were just teenagers when Cheren met Hilbert. 

The brunet boy had snuck out of the lavish mansion and down to the town below. All he wanted to do was explore around for a little while, all the things he had heard from one of the maids, Hilda, had sparked his curiosity. Bianca - another maid, clumsier than the others but incredibly kind - tried warning him that it was a bad idea, but he didn’t listen.

When he reached the town below, he was amazed by how busy the streets were and how many people there were. It was peaceful and loud all at the same time and Hilbert instantly got lost in the sights and sounds. He explored around, going from stall to stall and looking at their wares, but never buying because he didn’t think about bringing any money, he suddenly wished he did with all of these wonderful things around.

While looking at one stall, Hilbert noticed a bookshop near by. He decided to check it out, wondering if he could find anything good and ask Bianca or Hilda if they could buy it for him later. Once inside, Hilbert was again amazed. The shop was large with shelves and shelves of books lining up the walls. From the way his parents talked about the town, it seemed like an uncultured, backwards place full of poor people that were desperate for a job. Judging by this bookstore, however, Hilbert begun to realize that maybe his parents were wrong-

“May I help you?” asked a voice from behind the counter, causing Hilbert to jump a little. He looked up to face the source of the voice, surprised to see that it was a boy his age. The other boy had black hair, one hair sticking up, and dark blue eyes.

“U-Um… I was just going to look around-”

“Well if you’re going to just ‘look around’ you can do it somewhere else.” the other boy interrupted, causing Hilbert to flinch. For someone so young he sure sounded cold…

“S-Sorry! I guess I’ll just-”

“Ohoho! Cheren, what’s going on here? Don’t you know it’s rude to tell a customer to leave?” another man said, this time with wild, orange hair and calm eyes. The boy - Cheren, Hilbert assumed - just huffed and ignored the older man, acting like he was cleaning the countertop.

“Fine, whatever Mr. Alder.”

“Um…”

“Don’t mind him, Cheren’s actually a rather nice boy.” Alder said, grabbing a hold of Hilbert’s shoulders. “Now, what book are you looking for?” Hilbert just shrugged, admitting that he didn’t know what book he was looking for, just something good that he could ask one of his friends to get for him later. Alder nodded and dragged Hilbert over to one of the shelves. He started explaining to Hilbert about what the book was about and how a lot of his customers seem to really like it.

Hilbert wasn’t really paying attention though, his attention was being given to the raven haired boy that was looking back at him every couple of minutes.

* * *

Hilbert decided to return to the bookstore and buy the book Alder had told him about. He had given up any plans to have Hilda or Bianca buy it for him and he wasn’t entirely sure why. When he did arrive, he saw Cheren behind the counter again and walked over to the section where Alder had shown him that other book from before. Apparently it was about a legend involving two dragons - one black and one white - and their masters fighting each other. Alder hadn’t told him the ending, but promised that it was a good book so Hilbert had decided to buy it. Thankfully, it wasn’t that expensive, so even if his parents looked through his coin bag, they probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference.

When Hilbert found the book, he went up to the counter and politely told Cheren that he wanted to buy the book. Cheren looked up from the book he was currently reading and asked Hilbert for the correct amount of coins. Hilbert paid for the book and Cheren thanked Hilbert for stopping by and returned to his book, much to Hilbert’s disappointment.

After Hilbert left the small bookstore, he returned home and started reading his new book, ignoring the looks of curiosity from Hilda and Bianca.

* * *

Cheren wasn’t very surprised to see Bianca stop by today. She was a regular customer of theirs, buying the newest and most exciting books or reading through some of the books talking about the latest discoveries made my that one woman scientist, Aurea Juniper or something like that. Cheren was surprised, however, by the fierce look in her eyes today and he wasn’t quite sure what it was about.

“You met Hilbert.” she said, more like confirmed to him.

“Is that the name of that brunet that came in yesterday? I didn’t know you knew him-”

“So you _did_ meet Hilbert!” Bianca interrupted, eyes widening and she practically rushed over to the countertop.

“Yeah, so?” Cheren asked, annoyed by the odd behavior.

“I’m just surprised is all! He came back home with this book in his hands,” Bianca stated. “He was reading it but he wasn’t _reading_ it. He seemed distracted by something.”

 

_‘And why should I care?’_ Cheren wanted to ask, but held back the words when realization dawned on Bianca’s face.

“ _You_ were on his mind!” she practically yelled, gaining the attention of a few onlookers. They returned their attention back to their books after seeing who was yelling, most of the customers there knew who Bianca was, so they weren’t surprised to see that it was her.

“This is a pretty big deal you know!” Bianca stated, pouting at him when Cheren didn’t even try sharing in her excitement.

“And why is that?” Cheren asked, picking his book back up and started to look for the page he was last at. Bianca pouted some more before deflating, turning around to face the door and walk out, she left but not before Cheren heard her mutter something along the lines of ‘because he wants to be your friend’.

* * *

Hilbert and Cheren saw each other again a month after Hilbert purchased his first book. When Cheren saw Hilbert, he noticed that his hair seemed a little longer, but he was still all smiles and his eyes still held that look of curiosity. Cheren sighed and waved at the brunet, which seemed to catch the other boy off guard. That made Cheren cringe a little on the inside, was he really that cold when he first met the brunet. Cheren sighed again and waved Hilbert over to the countertop. When Hilbert had made it there, Cheren had cleared his throat and extended his arm out.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot.” Cheren stated, pushing his new glasses up with his free hand. “My name is Cheren. And you?”

Hilbert smiled and accepted the outstretched arm and shook it. “My name is Hilbert.”

Cheren took his arm back after a while, wanting to avoid looking into Hilbert’s brown eyes and shield himself from that smile. Both were kind of-

“So I came in today to see if there was a sequel to that book I bought? I really liked the first one and it ended off pretty sadly so I just assumed there was a happier sequel.” Hilbert said, holding on tightly to the book in his hands. Cheren glanced down at Hilbert hands and walked around the counter. He lead Hilbert back over to the section where the first book was found and pulled out a couple of books.

“Figures Alder didn’t tell you that the book is part of a trilogy. We have the other two books in stock, would you like to buy them?” Cheren asked, holding the other two books in his hands. Hilbert nodded excitedly, rushing over to the countertop and getting his coin bag out. Cheren walked behind the counter and added up the amount for both books, which Hilbert was able to pay easily, surprising Cheren. Most people in town couldn’t buy two books at the same time. Hilbert didn’t seem to notice the other boys surprise and grabbed his books excitedly. He wouldn’t wait to return home and start reading the second book! He returned his attention back to Cheren and grinned widely.

“I’ll see you around Cheren!” he said, running out of the store, minding some of the other customers, and left Cheren stunned.

“I’m so asking Bianca about this later…” Cheren muttered before returning to his book. His thoughts, however, weren’t on the book, but rather on how pretty Hilbert’s eyes were, especially when he was excited.

* * *

They met a couple of times after that. Hilbert would come in, excited about his reading or just wanting to pester Cheren about something. Sometimes Bianca would come with Hilbert, sparking a bit of interest in Cheren. She was usually dressed in her uniform, which didn’t seem to bother Hilbert, but it surprised Cheren. Whenever she was here, she was dressed in more civilian clothes, which included her red glasses.

Whenever Hilbert left the duo to a different part of the store, Cheren would stare at Bianca, hoping that she would explain herself to him but never did. She just nodded at him and went to see if there were any new published works by that Juniper lady.

* * *

Sometimes another girl would come with them. Cheren had learned that her name was Hilda and Cheren was almost tempted to ask if she was related to Hilbert. Like Bianca, she wore a maid’s uniform, which immediately shot down any idea that Cheren had about her and Hilbert being related. She was an excitable girl, just like Hilbert, but she was more loud and confident. She had a weird passion in everything that she did, even looking through books with Hilbert.

Sometimes Cheren felt a little jealous that Hilbert laughed so easily around her, just like Hilbert laughed so easily around him.

* * *

Finally, Bianca had decided to tell him about Hilbert. It took a couple of months of the trio coming into the bookshop, but he was relieved that Bianca was _finally_ going to tell him.

He was surprised by what Bianca told him. She told him about how Hilbert lives in that mansion up the hill and how his parents are rich, but he’s still such a sweet and unspoiled boy. She seemed to talk rather fondly of him, just like the times before Cheren had actually met Hilbert. She also explained how Hilbert’s parents said he was going to get married soon and-

Cheren tuned her out after that though. He wasn’t sure why but he didn’t want to hear about how weird Hilbert’s fiancé was or how much the guy’s dad creeped her out.

* * *

Cheren was avoiding Hilbert. Sometimes he requested for Alder to take his place at the counter while he hanged out in the back room to count books. Sometimes he would hear Hilbert and Alder talk, although Alder did most of the talking because whenever Hilbert did talk, he sounded disappointed. After a while, Hilbert would leave, but not with a lot of enthusiasm.

Cheren had a feeling it was his fault but he didn’t care. He was angry about something, but he doesn’t know what.

* * *

After a while, Cheren meets Hilbert’s fiancé. The man is tall, much taller than he expected, and his hair is green, which is really weird. His eyes are grey too, which is throwing Cheren off greatly. He feels like his soul is being stared at by those grey, analyzing eyes. After a while of staring at each other, the other man sighs and goes over a section in the bookstore and grabs one of the books on the country’s mythology. He flips through the book before returning it to the shelf. He then goes up the counter and just stands there, like he’s waiting for something. Soon, Cheren gives in and looks up at the man, meeting those grey eyes.

“What?” Cheren asks, more like snaps at, the man. He just chuckles before leaning in so he’s on Cheren’s level, which angers Cheren to no end.

“I’m looking for a book. My fiancé seems to like it and I was wondering if there were any more books in the series.” Cheren almost didn’t catch any of that, the man talked too fast for him.

“Sorry, the series is a trilogy. There isn’t going to be a fourth book.” Cheren answers, glaring a little at the man. He just chuckles again before turning around to go back to the door to leave the small bookstore. However, he stops and turns back around to face Cheren, an unreadable look on his face.

“I don’t understand what Hilbert sees in you.” And that’s all he says before leaving the store and leaving Cheren beyond confused.

* * *

It has been almost a year since Cheren met Hilbert. They’re still teenagers, but now one of them is getting married.

Bianca arrives to the store with the invitation in her hands. It’s to Hilbert’s wedding, but Cheren isn’t so sure that he wants to go, but the insistent look on Bianca’s face makes him agree. She smiles at him and promises that it won’t be as boring as he thinks it’ll be. Cheren almost wants to laugh because that’s not what he’ll be upset about, but he decides not to because he doesn’t want to hurt Bianca’s feelings.

* * *

Hilda comes in the next day with a black suit and red tie all ready for him. She says that it’ll look good on him and that the tie will compliment his glasses. She says that it’s a black and white themed wedding and all the guys have to wear black with at least one other color. Cheren says he doesn’t mind that his other color is going to be red, much to Hilda’s excitement. She grins at him before leaving, dragging Bianca along with her to another part of town.

Cheren just stares at the suit and tie and wonders why there’s a weird ache in his chest.

* * *

When it’s time for the wedding, Cheren is sitting on the side where all of Hilbert’s friends and family are. He feels slightly out of place with them. Most of Hilbert’s other friends are rich and important, just like Hilbert’s family. He looks over to the other side of the aisle way and sees that other guy’s - N, he reminds himself, the man’s name is N - family. Bianca wasn’t kidding when she said that his family was creepy, more specifically his father. N’s two sisters seemed nice and pretty, they were dressed in white, which brought out their blond and pink hair, the only other colors they sported.

After at least ten minutes, the doors opened and Hilbert, with his father in tow, walked down the aisle way, towards N and the alter.

Cheren almost wanted to yell stop when Hilbert stood next to N, smiling warmly at him, which N returned back. His grey eyes seemed different compared to before, they seemed a lot warmer and gentler and Cheren couldn’t help but feel like it was because of Hilbert.

When Hilbert said ‘I do’ to N, Cheren felt okay with crying. The other people around him were as well, but he knew that their tears were out of happiness while Cheren’s were actual sadness. He started wondering what would have happened if Cheren had told Hilbert about how he felt. 

Would this still be happening? 

Or would Cheren take N's place at the alter? 

Cheren suddenly regretted not doing something sooner as he watched the person he loved be kissed by another person.

**Author's Note:**

> Original prompt: _Imagine your OTP in the earlier years when people still arranged marriages. Person A is forced to marry and Person B has to watch Person A say “I do” to somebody who will never love and appreciate them as much as Person B did._


End file.
